Lucknow: Babri-Masjid Ram Janmabhoomi issue has now gained ‘international’ dimensions with Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issuing a fatwa stating that properties belonging to the Waqf Board cannot be given away for construction of a temple or any other shrine. It is against the stand taken by Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi who has said on many occasions that the disputed land where Babri Masjid once stood be donated for the construction of the Ram Temple.

Shia Muslims around the globe revere Al-Sistani and he leads one of the most revered Shia seminaries in Najaf, Iraq. The fatwa was issued by Al-Sistani in response to a question asked by Dr Mazhar Naqvi, a Kanpur-based educationist.

Targeting Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi the Fatwa stated that properties belonging to the Waqf Board cannot be given away for construction of a temple or any other shrine. The Shia cleric also claimed that the Waqf property belonged to the Shi’ites as the Babri Mosque was built by a Shi’ite ruler.

However, Wasim Rizvi has slammed the fatwa, calling it a conspiracy to internationalise the issue. He argued that there was a temple which was razed for the construction of the mosque. Rizvi went on to say that the Shia Board would not budge from its stand even if all the Muslims of the country oppose their stand.